


Tuesday

by Em_Jaye



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Bingo, Darcy Lewis Needs a Hug, F/M, Fluff, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-30
Updated: 2017-02-04
Packaged: 2018-09-20 23:48:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9521483
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Em_Jaye/pseuds/Em_Jaye
Summary: "When you get right down to it, I just got dumped on Valentine’s Day and it doesn’t get much worse than that.”An alternative to spending V-Day alone.





	1. Tuesday

**Author's Note:**

  * For [GlynnisIsta8](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GlynnisIsta8/gifts).



> I know it's early, but MAN has this week sucked! So I decided to take a look at some of my old fanfics and revist some of those ideas within the Shieldshock universe. Hope you like.
> 
> Also, I'll dedicate this to glynnisi because I wanted to give her something for her birthday and I was a total slacker and didn't do it. So I hope you like this :)

 

As a rule, Steve didn’t really care about Valentine’s Day.  When he was younger, skinnier, and painfully awkward, it was just another day to be ignored by women. In turn, he’d always done his best to treat it as just another day. And that had usually worked out for the best.

But Valentine’s Day in the forties had nothing on the present-day celebrations.  Every year since he’d woken up, it seemed like the universe was going out of its way to make it impossible for him to resume his annual February ignorance. This year it felt like the stores exploded with pink and red hearts and balloons and candy as soon as the Christmas decorations were packed away. His email flooded with advertisements for flower delivery and restaurant reservations and it felt less and less likely that anyone was going to let him coast through February 14th unscathed.

Like Peter, for instance.

Peter, who had been bending his ear for almost twenty minutes, asking advice while they picked through the remains of a bowling alley in Queens.  The rundown basement establishment had—until that morning—served as a workshop for a small group of wannabe bad guys who’d gotten their hands on some old Hydra tech in the SHIELD data dump. The experiment they’d attempted had backfired—literally—resulting in a round of arrests and a former home base blown to hell.

“Do you think she would appreciate flowers?”

Steve sighed and kicked a piece of a scorched wooden bench out of the way.  _Right_ , he thought with a roll of his eyes, _back to the important stuff_.

“No,” Peter answered himself, shaking his head. “Flowers are lame.  Right?” he looked up with what Steve could assume was a hopeful look beneath his mask. “Flowers are lame?”

He let out a long exhale. “Why aren’t you in school?’

Peter shrugged. “My school’s like, two blocks from here.  And I’ve got fourth period free,” he said before he continued. “But I can’t get her jewelry or anything like that—I mean, we’re not even going out.”

When Steve glanced in his direction again, Peter was looking toward him expectantly. “Why…why are you asking me this?”

“I don’t know,” he shrugged again. “Tony told me to go away and Natasha scares me and…” his shoulders moved once more. “I can’t ask anyone else.”

Steve sighed again.  He could just tell, beneath that red and black spider mask, was just another awkward teenage boy who didn’t know how to make a girl he liked notice him.  He didn’t deserve this bad mood Steve was projecting on him. “Look, kid, I’m not really the guy to go to with this stuff.”

“Come on!” Peter trailed after him when he turned back to the task at hand. “I’m new at this! And I suck at it!”

“So do I!” Steve exclaimed, standing up from where he’d crouched to retrieve a half-melted USB drive. He stopped and dropped his shoulders with a joyless chuckle. “You like her, right?”

“Oh man,” Peter shook his head. “I like her _so much_. But I can’t just _tell_ her that, y’know? I mean, I’d probably screw it up and make it weird and she’d never—”

“Stop!” Steve said, holding up a hand. “Don’t try to tell her how you feel.”

“Because I’ll make it weird?”

“Yeah,” he nodded. “Just…” he shrugged. “Just…I don’t know, kid. Just get her a couple carnations and a card with a cartoon dog on it or something.  She’ll probably love it.”

Peter stopped and tilted his head to one side. “Really?  You think flowers are the way to go? You don’t think she’ll think it’s lame?”

Steve threw up his hands in frustration. “How the hell should I know?”

“Sorry!” his teenaged cohort put his hands up. “Sorry, Captain America.  I’m sorry.  I’ll leave you alone.”

He sighed for the third time in too short a time. “I gave you all the advice I have,” he reminded. “Just…make her feel special and try not to talk so much.”

Peter was quiet for a long moment.  Too long.  Long enough that Steve thought it was safe to return to his search for anything Hydra or SHIELD related.

“So you think red carnations?” Peter asked finally, breaking the silence and trailing again too close behind him.  “Or maybe pink?  And wait—are carnations those spiky-looking flowers? Or are those lilies?”

 

Mercifully, Peter had to return to school for fifth period and for the rest of the day, Steve was free to stew in his discontent.  He stewed all through the debrief and the paperwork he had to file for the tech they recovered.  He stewed while crunching his way through one of the heart shaped cookies that had appeared in the kitchen next door to his office. It wasn’t until he realized he’d stewed halfway through the afternoon that he tried to pinpoint the source of his irritability.

It wasn’t that the holiday itself bothered him.  It wasn’t even everyone’s attempt to celebrate—let them be together, Steve figured, let them wear their little ties with the hearts and the glittering bobble headbands down in reception. 

If it wasn’t the holiday and it wasn’t being alone...what could it be?  He wasn’t depressed or even particularly angry.  It was just a lack of anything to make him happy.  Nothing serious—hopefully it would wear off in a day or two.

Still. Emotional turmoil was not a good look, Steve reasoned as he wrapped up his meeting down in the labs with Bruce.  Best to cancel on Izzy and stay in for the night, not inflicting his foul mood on anyone else.  He was on his way toward the elevator when he noticed Darcy was still in Jane’s lab, her back to the door.  He stopped and felt the corner of his lips turn up in a small smile.  He hadn’t talked to Darcy in days.

It had occurred to him that she may be the cause of his bad mood.  For the last few weeks, the lab techs had been abuzz with gossip about her new boyfriend—some tall, dark and politically-minded lawyer from Legal Aid.  He’d convinced himself that it didn’t bother him—it didn’t.  Darcy was considerably more social than he; she was always going out on dates and flirting with her coworkers and strangers alike.  And just because she knew— _everyone_ knew, for Christ’s sake—that he’d been harboring a crush on her since her first week...well that didn’t mean she couldn’t see whomever she wanted.

And no matter who she was dating, a conversation with Darcy always cheered him right up.

“Hey,” he drummed his knuckles on the doorframe, hoping she’d leave him with a corny joke and a smile to brighten his evening.  “Just heading out, wanted to say...”  Steve’s train of thought crashed swiftly at the sound of a sniffle.

“Hey,” she echoed, her voice thick and wobbly.

 “Hey...” he took a few steps into the lab, noticing that most of the lights were off.  “What are you doing?”

When she glanced over her shoulder he noticed the pools of smeared eye makeup and the blotches of red on her cheeks.  “I’m uh...” she sniffled again.  “I’m recalibrating the centrifuge.” 

He nodded slowly and cautiously sidled up next to her.  “It’s a sad thing...an uncalibrated centrifuge.  Thank God you got to it, I’ve been choked up about it all day.”

Darcy rubbed furiously at her eyes, smearing her black eyeliner, and gave a feeble chuckle.  “Right?  It has that effect on people.”

 “Anything you feel like talking about?” he asked after a few long moments of sniffles.

“Nothing to talk about,” she said, rolling her eyes. “It’s not me, it’s him. He’s a ‘bad boyfriend’ because he can’t devote as much time to me as he wants—”

Steve frowned. “I wouldn’t think you’re all that time-consuming,” he commented lightly, pleased when she glanced over at him with a weak smile.

“Yeah, who would’ve thought?”  He watched as she made another sound of frustration and squeezed the bridge of her nose.  “I mean, really, I thought he was a pretty great boyfriend up until this afternoon.  He didn’t start being a ‘bad boyfriend’ until he broke up with me. And considering _I’m_ the one _he_ broke up with, I don’t think he gets to tell me that it’s not me.  Because it kind of really _feels_ like it’s me.”

Steve looked on helplessly.  “I’m sorry.”

“Yeah,” she scoffed again.  “Me too.”  The air hung between them for a little while longer before she continued.  “And please, Steve, please don’t say anything like it’s his loss or I can do better or there are other fish in the sea—I don’t want to hear it.”

“I...wasn’t planning on it.”

“Good.  Because when you get right down to it, I just got dumped on Valentine’s Day and it doesn’t get much worse than that.”

Steve was struck with an idea.  “What are you doing tonight?”

She stopped her fiddling with the centrifuge and gave him an incredulous look.  “Are you doing that selective listening thing that Tony does?  I told you, I just got—”

“Yeah yeah yeah,” he waved a hand.  “You got dumped on Valentine’s Day, I know.  But what if it wasn’t Valentine’s Day—would it still suck?”

She took no time to answer. “Yes.”

“Fine, it would.  But would it suck as much?”

Another moment of contemplation.  “I don’t know...maybe not.”

“So guess what else it is, besides Valentine’s Day?”

Darcy gave him a blank and miserable look through swollen eyes.  “The day I gave up on love and decided to become a crazy cat lady?”

“No. It’s a Tuesday!” he exclaimed, pleased he’d come up with this train of thought.

“So?”

“So millions of people get dumped on Tuesdays...it’s just another day of the week.”  Steve could tell she still wasn’t following.  “Listen, if it wasn’t Valentine’s Day...if it was just a Tuesday—any other Tuesday of the year—what would you be doing tonight?”

“I don’t know...probably go home, order dinner and watch Rosemary and Thyme on Netflix?”

“Excellent,” he assured with a smile.  “That’s perfect.  You know what I do on Tuesdays?”

She shrugged. “Keep the world safe for democracy?”

His grin refused to fade. “When I’m not doing that,” he said. “I hang out with Izzy Cohen.”

Her eyebrows dipped toward each other.  “Who’s she?”

“ _He,_ ” Steve corrected, “is one of my old war buddies. One of the Howling Commandos.”

She looked surprised. “Really?”

“Really,” he assured her. “We’re the only two still in New York and since—” he stopped himself and shook his head. “Anyway, my point is that if you go home, you’re going to be reminded somehow about this stupid holiday and you’re going to be more depressed than usual and it’s not going to be good.  So why don’t you forget that today is a holiday and join me for my Tuesday tradition instead?”

Darcy eyed him dubiously.  “So this isn’t like...like a date or anything...right?  Because that’s pretty shitty—asking me out twenty minutes after I get dumped because you feel bad for me.”

 “Darcy, c’mon,” he scoffed. “It’s Tuesday!  Who asks for a Tuesday date?”

Her mouth twitched into a cautious smile.  “Do I have to change?”

 “Absolutely not!  It’s just me and Izzy—no one to impress.  Besides,” he added softly, “you look great.”

She rolled her eyes and wiped at her face.  “Yeah, right,” she muttered, slipping out of her lab coat.  After the centrifuge had been reconfigured and set in its rightful place, she turned to him.  “So where are we going for this...Tuesday...thing?”

Steve scoffed.  “And ruin the surprise?  I don’t think so.  Just know that you’re in for the thrill of your life.” 

 

 

The Jewish Community Center of Bensonhurst was one happening place on a Tuesday night.  By the time the cab pulled up, Izzy Cohen was waiting under a large, vinyl banner with the words _SENIORS BINGO 7-9 PM_ sandwiched between two blue Stars of David.

Darcy stopped short as soon as she closed the cab door.  She turned to him with a raised eyebrow. “We’re playing bingo?”

“It’s Tuesday,” Steve reminded for the third time. “Tuesdays are bingo night at the JCC.”

“You do this every week?” she asked and tilted her head to one side.

He shrugged. “If I’m around.”

She still hadn’t moved from her spot beside the curb. “How long have you been doing this?”

Again, he shrugged. “Since I found out Izzy was still alive and close enough to visit.”  He motioned her to follow him onto the sidewalk.  “And I feel like it goes without saying, if Tony ever hears about this—”

“Oh, Jesus,” she waved the words away. “As if I’d give him an opportunity to be extra obnoxious.  No,” she shook her head. “This little secret is safe with me.”

“Good,” he smiled. “Now let’s move. Cohen hates to be kept waiting.”

“Rogers!” a man’s voice called from the entranceway.  “Rogers, you’re late!  We’re not gonna get a spot!”

As they approached, Darcy was able to make out the owner of the voice.  Steve’s old war buddy was, without a doubt, the cutest old man she’d ever encountered.  He was almost the same height as Steve with a shock of black hair, a face full of prominent features, and thick framed coke bottle glasses that enlarged his icy blue eyes.  Under his open wool coat, he wore light blue plaid trousers and a black polo shirt tucked in high at the waist.  His shoes were silver and fastened with Velcro.  Without hesitation, he pulled Steve into a brotherly hug and kissed him on the cheek. “We’re not gonna get a spot,” he repeated, pulling away.

 “We’ll be fine.  I promise.  There’s someone I want you to meet.”  Steve motioned from one to the other, “Darcy, this is my friend Isadore Cohen. Izzy, this is Darcy Lewis—we work together.”

 “Darcy,” Izzy smiled before pulling her in for a peck as well.  “That’s a good name—you don’t hear that name very often.”  He looked from Steve to Darcy and back again.  “Hey, listen, Steve...you know if you had a date, you could’ve just cancelled—I woulda called Harry or somebody.”

“It’s not a date,” Steve assured him quickly, noticing the blush that had crept to Darcy’s fair cheeks.  “Really.”

“Yeah,” he didn’t look convinced.  “Right.  Good lookin’ kids, out together on Valentine’s Day...” he shrugged.  “It’s nice, Steve,” he said before he dropped his voice. “She’s a little young for an old-timer like you, but…” he grinned when Darcy let out a giggle.  “No, I’m kidding.  It’s nice.”

“We’re uh...” he cleared his throat and dropped his voice, “We’re kind of doing an anti-Valentine’s thing, Iz.  Sort of boycotting the whole thing.”

“Oh,” the older man seemed to get it.  “Yeah, Valentine’s Day—the hell with it.  Hearts...candy...” he waved an impatient hand.  “It’s all bullshit as far as I’m concerned.  C’mon,” he motioned to the bingo hall, “let’s play.  We’re late enough as it is.”

Darcy laughed and followed him inside.  She watched as he dug into his pocket and produced three curvy bottles, each with a different colored round top.  “What are those?” she asked before she could help herself.

Izzy turned to her with a smile.  “My daubers.  I always bring a spare—just in case,” he handed her the bottle with the green top.  “You can borrow the green this week, my sweet.”  He winked.  “It always brings me luck.”

 

***

 

Izzy hadn’t been lying about the green dauber being lucky.  By the end of three games of bingo, Darcy had won almost three hundred dollars.  When she tried to split her earnings, however, she was hushed and waved away.

 “Call it a beginner’s gift,” Izzy said with a smile as they parted ways.  “Incentive to keep you coming back.”

She laughed.  “Are you sure?  You’re the one who pointed out half my numbers...It’s only fair.”

 “Fair shmair—did you have a good time?”

 “Yes,” she nodded.  “Absolutely.”

 “Then that’s all I need.  Rogers, I’m serious,” he pointed a serious finger at his friend.  “You bring her around—she’s good for you. It’s nice hearing you laugh every now and then.”

 “We’re just friends, Izzy,” Steve reminded as the cab pulled up to the curb.

 “Just tell me the next time she’s coming along, I’ll bring Mona.  It can be a double...what have you...” he shrugged good naturedly.  “It’ll be fun.”

They exchanged goodbyes and climbed back into their respective cabs.  It was a few blocks of comfortable silence before Darcy looked over at him.  “I’ll buy you dinner.”

He raised his eyebrows. “You don’t have to.”

“Don’t tell me how I can spend my winnings,” she fired back, fanning her twenties out before tucking them into her wallet. “I’ve only eaten stale JCC pretzels since noon.  I’m ravenous.”

They settled for Chinese a few blocks from Darcy’s apartment, replaying the night’s events through mouthfuls of crispy eggrolls and fried rice. 

“I can’t believe that woman stormed out,” Darcy commented, shaking her head. “I mean, it’s bingo. Calm the fuck down.”

Steve laughed. “You wouldn’t be saying that if you were a regular. Actually, she was a lot drunker this week than usual.  It’s probably a good idea she left when she did.”

Darcy chuckled and sucked a drop of duck sauce from the edge of her hand. “I’m still kind of having a hard time believing that you go and play bingo with a bunch of old Jews every Tuesday.”

 “Look, I didn’t plan on that being the highlight of my social life,” Steve said with a laugh. “It just sort of worked out that way.”

“No,” she shook her head. “I think it’s sweet. Izzy seems like a great guy.”

“He is a great guy,” Steve nodded. “And he saved my life more times than I can remember during the war.  So if I can spend a couple hours a week keeping him company and letting him reminisce about the old days…” he shrugged. “No harm in that.”

They walked the rest of the way to her apartment after dinner, making the most of the unseasonably pleasant weather New York had been enjoying.  Darcy seemed happier, a lighter bounce in her step and hardly a trace of the makeup smeared research assistant he’d stumbled upon that afternoon. 

“You uh,” Steve coughed and glanced in her direction as her building came into view. “You feel better?”

She looked over and gave him a full smile. “I do, actually. Who would have thought that the cure for a broken heart was playing bingo with a couple of senior citizens?” She gave him a playful nudge. “But in all seriousness,” she added as they stopped walking beside her stoop. “I had a really good time.  Thank you for cheering me up.”

He smiled down at her, feeling better than he had all day. “It was my pleasure.”

“Good night Steve,” she said, reaching out to give his hand a squeeze before she turned and headed up her stairs.

It took watching her walk up three steps before he summoned his courage and blurted out her name. 

She stopped and turned around, her eyebrows lifted expectantly. “What’s up?”

Steve inhaled deeply and steadied his nerves. “I think you’re…incredible,” he said before he could talk himself out of it. “And this isn’t a speech or a pep talk or me just trying to make you feel better.  That guy—whoever he was, he’s an idiot. And you’ve been with enough idiots.  You don’t need any more.  You deserve someone who recognizes how lucky they are to have you…who wouldn’t even think of breaking up with you on Valentine’s Day or Tuesday or any other day because…” he stopped and let his chest relax as he let out his deep breath. “Because you’re incredible.”

Darcy’s blue eyes had almost doubled in size.  She took a cautious step back toward him. “You don’t have to say all that…” she said as her full lips pouted thoughtfully.

Steve let out a soft chuckle and shook his head. “I’ve been trying _not_ to say all that for months,” he admitted. “And this is probably the worst way and time I could’ve done it.  And I’m not trying to take advantage of any…situation or anything, I just...” He dropped his gaze to the steps between them, wondering why he hadn’t taken any of the advice he’d given Peter that afternoon and just kept his mouth shut. “…thought maybe you should hear it.”

He was still looking down, studying the crack in the center of the second concrete step, so he didn’t see her take another step down, putting them almost at eye level.  He didn’t see the way her expression had changed. He didn’t see anything, actually, until she reached out and took his face in her hands. Her eyes fluttered closed at the same time his did, just before she leaned all the way in and pressed her lips to his.

She pulled away after a few long, lingering moments and brushed her nose against his. A pleasantly pink blush blossomed on her cheeks.  She tapped his chest and bit back a smile.  “Thanks for a great Tuesday, Steve,” she said softly before she turned away and jogged up the stairs to her front door.

Steve stood rooted in place for a few moments after the door closed. His stunned smile stuck on his face.

Best Tuesday ever.

 


	2. Wednesday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No rash decision is complete without the predictable arrival of emotional fallout.

                It was suspected that Tony had an army of little cleaning bots that kept the tower clean and shining. If that was the case, they were also excellent at un-decorating. By the time Darcy arrived on the morning of February 15th, there was no trace of Valentine’s Day anywhere on the premises.

                Which was a good thing, she reasoned, considering all that had transpired in the last twenty-four hours. If her workspace had still been plastered with red foil hearts and glittering garland, she would have been forced to think about how she’d spent her evening and figure out what she was going to do next.

                But it turned out she didn’t have time for any of that because she’d barely had time to turn on her computer when Jane plowed into the lab with arms full of notebooks and devices.  Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were sparkling with excitement.

                “Hey,” Darcy greeted, trying not to let her heard sink at all of the work ahead of her.  She watched Jane unload onto their shared table and reach into her bag to remove more yellow legal pads. “How was your night?”

                “Oh my God,” Jane said breathlessly. “Unbelievable. I just got back.”

                She raised her eyebrows. “Back from where?”

                “From Asgard,” Jane said, as if it were obvious. “Well, Asgard and Alfheim. We had to go to both to see the full arch of this nebula—” she stopped and collected herself. “You’re not going to believe the data I got. I mean, _no one_ is going to believe the data I’ve got. No one’s ever _seen_ anything like this before.”

                Darcy blinked. “Wait. You went to Asgard last night?”

                Jane didn’t look up from her spectrometer readings. “Uh-huh.”

                “Thor took you to Asgard for Valentine’s Day?”

                “I don’t know if it was _for_ Valentine’s Day,” she sounded skeptical. “My days are all mixed up. What day is it?”

                “It’s the fifteenth,” Darcy said, deadpan.

                Jane stopped her fiddling and glanced up. “It is?”

                “Mmmhmm.”

                She frowned. “So Valentine’s Day was…”

                “Yesterday, Jane.”

                “Huh.”

                “And to celebrate, your god of a boyfriend took you to see the stars on what might actually be the most romantic date of all time…” she shook her head and looked at the research she was going to spend the next two weeks sifting through. “And you spent the whole time recording data and taking notes. Didn’t you?”

                She shrugged innocently. “He didn’t seem to mind.”

                Darcy smiled and rolled her eyes. “Of course he didn’t,” she relented. “He probably found it enchanting.”

                Jane smiled to herself and returned to work. “Anyway, we’ve got a lot to go through,” she motioned to the table. “What are you working on this morning?”

                “I was going to finish up the research for the Stemmler grant and then I’ll get to work on cataloguing all of this.”

                Her boss brightened again. “Great,” she withdrew two of her legal pads and started toward her office. “Can you send me the Stemmler stuff when it’s finished?”

                “Sure thing,” Darcy hopped back onto her swivel stool and returned to her computer.  She’d just opened her browser and retrieved the progress she’d made the day before when Jane reappeared in the doorway.

                “Sorry,” she said, looking thoughtful. “That was rude.” She shook her head. “Did you do anything fun for Valentine’s Day?”

                Darcy smiled; it always impressed her when Jane caught herself being inconsiderate in her quest for science. “Uh, yeah,” she said, surprising herself with an honest answer. “I had a really nice night.”

                The door to the lab swung open again. This time it was Jemma Simmons who breezed through. “Hey,” she greeted the two of them before she pointed at Jane. “I was looking for you yesterday.”

                “Sorry,” Jane said, pulling her messy bun down to redo it at the base of her skull. “I know we were supposed to meet after work. I just got—”

                “She was in space,” Darcy supplied helpfully.

                Jemma looked impressed. “Ooh, big Valentine’s date?”

                Jane frowned. “Apparently.”

                Darcy rolled her eyes again. “She decided to spread the love and bring me back a souvenir of research to organize.”

                Jemma smiled. “How thoughtful. Speaking of dates,” she gave Darcy an expectant look. “Did you and Derek do anything special last night?”

                She took a deep breath and shook her head. “Nope.”

                Jane looked up from whatever she’d begun checking on her phone. “What? I thought you just said—”

                “I said I had a good night,” she reminded. “Derek didn’t have anything to do with it.”

                Jemma looked confused. “What happened between you and Derek?”

                “Oh,” she waved a hand. “He broke up with me.”

                “What?” Jane exclaimed, surprising Darcy with her sudden investment in their relationship. “When?”

                Darcy bit her lip in thought. “Um…sometime around two, maybe? Maybe three?” She shrugged. “Anyway, he broke up with me and then Steve and I went out instead.”

                “Wait a minute,” Jemma held up a hand. “I thought things were good with you two?”

                “Yeah,” Darcy shrugged. “Me too. Apparently we were both wrong.”

                “So you and he aren’t together anymore,” Jemma’s expression wrinkled with confusion. “And you went out with… _Steve_?”

                “That’s the long and the short of it,” she agreed with another nod.

                “Steve,” Jane repeated, looking equally confused.

                “Steve Rogers?” Jemma clarified.

                Darcy nodded again. “Yep.”

                “The avenger?”

                “No, Steve Rogers the guy who runs the coffee cart on 119th,” she rolled her eyes. “Yes, Steve Rogers— _our_ Steve Rogers.”

                “And this isn’t the first thing you say when I walk in the door?” Jane asked, looking just a little bit hurt.

                Darcy shrugged. “You were busy with your space,” she reminded. “I don’t interrupt you when you’re busy with space.”

                “So what happened?” Jemma asked. “What did you do?”

                “Oh,” Darcy paused and bit her lip again. “We played bingo.”

                This news was met with silence and an exchange of looks.

                “Is that a euphemism?” Jane asked finally, wrinkling her nose.

                “No!” Darcy exclaimed. “We went to the JCC in Brooklyn and played bingo with his old war buddy, Izzy. It was fun.”

                “Bingo…” Jemma said slowly, absorbing this new information.

                “At the JCC,” Jane repeated. “With Steve and his old army pals.”

                “Yes,” Darcy nodded, bordering on exasperation.

                “And then…?” Jemma prompted, still looking unconvinced.

                She took another breath. “And then I won a bunch of money and we went for Chinese and then he walked me home and he told me I was incredible and then I kissed him and then I went to bed.”

                “You did what?” Jane exclaimed, covering her mouth after she received a sharp look from one of the security guards patrolling the floor.

                “Sorry, I watched an episode of Murder, She Wrote first and then I went to bed.”

                “Darcy…”

                She sighed. “Yes, I kissed him. Okay?” she made an inviting gesture with her hands. “Do with that information what you will.”  She paused. “But I swear to God, if anyone mentions the bingo thing to anyone outside of this lab, I’ll never bring anyone doughnuts ever again.”

                “Where did you kiss him?” Jane asked, ignoring the threat of a life without doughnuts for a moment.

                “On my front steps,” she answered simply.

                “Darcy!” Jemma cried.

                “Oh, you mean…” she paused. “On the face.”

                “The face?” Jane echoed dubiously.

                “The lips.”

                Her coworkers exchanged looks again. “You’re just letting these things just fall out of your mouth, aren’t you?” Jane asked dryly.

“I…haven’t exactly finished mentally unpacking it yet,” she admitted. “Forgive me for not wanting to say anything.”

Jane’s phone started buzzing against the table and jolted their attention away. She picked it up and squinted at the screen. “I have to go,” she said with another frown. “But we’re going to talk about this later,” she warned, pointing in Darcy’s direction as she pulled open the door to the lab. “Don’t let me forget.”

                “I can’t wait,” Darcy called after her, sarcastically.  She rolled her eyes and reached for the first notebook on the top of Jane’s abandoned pile.

                “Hey,” Jemma piped up, waving her hands. “I’m still here! And I’m not done talking to you.”

                She groaned. “Whaaaat?”

                “Don’t do that,” Jemma chastised. “If you didn’t want to talk about it, you wouldn’t have brought it up.”

                Darcy sighed. “I know,” she grumbled and dropped her chin onto the heel of her hand.

                “So really,” Jemma leaned forward and raised her eyebrows. “What’s going on?”

                Darcy frowned. “I don’t know. Kissing him just…seemed like the right thing to do at the time.”

                “And now…” Jemma prompted. “Are you…not so sure?”

                “I don’t know,” she repeated. “I mean, it was a nice kiss…” she smiled a little at the memory. “It was a _really_ nice kiss, actually.” Her face dropped again. “But I mean, I got dumped _yesterday_ , I shouldn’t just be bouncing from guy to guy like that.”

                Her friend gave her a sympathetic smile. “Darcy, there’s no shame in being a woman who goes after what she wants. But if you’re still upset about your break-up with Derek then you should tell Steve that. I know he’ll understand.”

                “But that’s just it,” Darcy bit her lip. “I don’t know that I’m really all that upset about Derek.” The intrigued look this news brought to Jemma’s face urged her to continue. “I mean,” she shrugged. “I liked him and we were having fun together, but I knew it wasn’t going to go anywhere. So it’s not like it was any great loss—just more of a shock, I guess.” She shrugged again. “And then Steve’s just…”

                Steve was just…what, exactly? Steve was her friend, she reminded herself. Steve was the guy who remembered her birthday every year and shared his snacks with her. The guy who routinely asked her for recommendations on books and movies and had helped her with an essay on Operation ‘Torch’ for one of her grad school classes. Steve was the guy who thought she looked great when she didn’t and that she was incredible…even when she wasn’t.

                Jemma smiled another gentle smile. “Whatever it is you’re thinking,” she suggested. “You should probably tell him that.”

                Darcy bit her lip. “But what if he really was just trying to make me feel better?”

                “I don’t think that’s the case.”

                “But what if it is?”

                Jemma sighed. “Then a really lovely man saw that you’d had a bad day and went out of his way to cheer you up,” she said and shrugged. “I can think of far worse things and I’m sure you can too.”

                Darcy glanced up from where she’d twisted her fingers together. “Yeah, I know.”

                Jemma reached out and squeezed her hands. “At least you’ve got plenty to keep you busy while you riddle it out.”

                She looked at the mass of instruments and notes and then glanced back at the unfinished grant proposal open on her computer. “Thank God for that,” she muttered.

                “I’ve got to get back to work,” Jemma said regretfully. “But you know where to find me if you want to talk.”

                “Thanks Jem,” Darcy offered her a genuine smile before she narrowed her eyes and pointed a finger at her friend. “And I mean it—about the bingo.”

                “Are you crazy?” Jemma scoffed as she headed for the door. “I love doughnuts. I’d never do anything to risk their place in my life.” She zipped her fingers along her lips. “Mums the word.”

                The door opened again as another of Jane’s technical assistants arrived for work. He frowned and cocked his head to one side. “Mum’s the word about what?”

                “Nothing,” Darcy said quickly, snapping back to business. “We’re doing space stuff,” she pointed to Jane’s equipment. “Lots to do.”

                Jemma grinned with a wave and showed herself out of the lab.

                In truth, Darcy was lucky to have so much to do. It was a healthy distraction from her very confusing thoughts.  On one hand, she reasoned with herself, she was right and Steve had just been trying to cheer her up and was as surprised and confused by her kiss as he was.

                On the other hand, there were those smirks she’d caught at the corner of Natasha’s lips whenever she and Steve were around. The way he went out of his way to be nice to her. And the nagging feeling that her kiss hadn’t been entirely one-sided.

                She spent the whole morning and most of the afternoon kicking her options and ideas around. With her head bent over her research and writing, the hours flew much faster than normal. It was well into the afternoon when she glanced up and noticed Steve walking through the corridor, chatting animatedly with Bucky. He caught her eye for a quick second and gave her a smile that seemed a little more nervous than usual as he offered a cautiously optimistic wave.

                Darcy smiled and waved back before returning to her laptop.

                Her decision didn’t seem so difficult after that.

                She managed to catch him in the lobby, just as the sky had given up and faded into evening. “Steve!” she called before he could reach door. “Wait up!”

                His pained expression twisted her stomach when he turned around. “What’s up, Darcy?”

                She frowned, suddenly panicking that she’d misread everything between them. “What’s wrong?”

                He sighed. “Nothing,” he shook his head. “You probably just want to get this over with so—”

                She felt her brow furrow in confusion. “Get what over with?”

                Steve gave her a patient smile. “Darcy, c’mon. We both know what you’re going to say.”

                She crossed her arms over her chest and tilted her head to one side. “No…I’m not sure that we do.”

                He opened his mouth to continue before he closed it again and considered their surroundings. The open lobby, the receptionists eyeing them with interest. He gently took her arm and pulled her to the corridor beside the private elevators. “Look, it’s no big deal, okay?” he said when he released her. “I understand. You were upset about your breakup and you didn’t really mean anything by that kiss.” He shrugged good-naturedly. “It was a whim, it won’t happen again and we can just pretend like it never happ—” If he had more to say, Darcy wasn’t going to hear it. She’d pushed him against the wall, stretched up on her tiptoes and covered his lips with hers.

                Twice now. In two days.

                She pulled away after a moment and took a deep breath. “Could you please shut up?”

                Steve blinked. “That was…unexpected.”

                “Listen, I’ve been thinking about this a lot and the thing is, I think I like you, Steve.”

                He raised an eyebrow. “You…think?”

                She sighed and scrunched up her nose as any hope of sounding mature and articulate flew out the window. “No, I mean, of course I like you. I just…I just think I might have had a revelation that I…y’know…” she gave him an expectant like. “ _Like_ you…y’know?”

                “Not…exactly,” Steve admitted carefully.

                Darcy sucked in a deep, steadying breath and tried again. “Tuesdays suck, okay? I don’t know why, but they’re always my least favorite day. Sometimes they feel like Thursdays or Mondays and I’m always stressed out thinking ‘oh my God, it’s only Tuesday!’ and then I get depressed and it’s all—” she stopped herself and shook her head. “Anyway, my point is that while I traditionally hate Tuesdays,” she looked up at him through her eyelashes and gave him a smile. “I had a really great one with you yesterday. And…” she paused, struggling with her next choice of words. “If you maybe wanted to…do that again sometime, I’d be okay with that.”

                Steve looked uncertain. “You would?’

                Darcy nodded. “I’d actually be more than okay about it. I’d be pretty happy about it.”

                His smile started out small, tentative. “You know what’s great about Tuesdays?”

                She raised her eyebrows hopefully when he reached out and brushed her hair back from her face. “What’s that?”

                “There’s another one next week,” he said as he leaned in for a kiss. “And the week after that,” he continued before their lips met again.  “And the week after that.”

                Darcy grinned against his mouth. “How do you feel about Wednesdays?”

 

  _-fin-_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked the conclusion!
> 
> Thanks to everyone who read, liked and shared my little V-Day drabble. I wish I could make gifs because I'd totally do one of the girls discussing Darcy's evening.
> 
> I just really love Jemma, tbh. 
> 
> And all of you. Come visit me on tumblr @idontgettechnology.  
> Ain't no party like a Darcyland party!

**Author's Note:**

> I made a photoset too...because, why not?
> 
> http://idontgettechnology.tumblr.com/private/image/156593006675/tumblr_okm0bko7sO1u32685


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